Abstract : French mother/child institutions, more commonly known as “ centre maternel ” (maternal centers), house pregnant women and women with their infants until their child is three years old. These “maternal centers” are part of child protection services. These institutions provide educational and psychological assistance to women, and support the mother-child relationship. The children are often welcomed in day-care centers inside the institution and are a core concern for the professionals. How do mothers experience these interventions ? This paper is based upon 49 biographical interviews with women who were accommodated in maternal centers few years back. The restitution of their experience highlights the experience of the educational follow-up, the configurations in which it is perceived as a support and those where it is perceived as a control, and a paradoxical relationship often reveals itself.